3 Ways Robotic Package Sortation Reduces Shipping Costs With Less Labor

3 Ways Robotic Package Sortation
Reduces Shipping Costs With Less Labor
Improve labor utilization, save on shipping costs, and accelerate delivery
speeds by automating package sortation.

Online shopping is booming across every retail category, and consumers want their online
purchases to arrive quickly without being expected to pay a premium for it. This means retailers
and 3PLs need to ramp up fulfillment operations to process higher volumes of online orders
while dealing with labor availability challenges and rising shipping costs.

            CUSTOMERS SHOPPING ONLINE WANT FAST, FREE SHIPPING

   US eCommerce sales              Online shopping is on               42% of Americans said
   are expected to grow            track to surpass 20%             they would purchase directly
 17.9% this year to reach           of total retail by 2024         from a branded manufacturer
       $933.3 billion.                    in the U.S.                 if they promised free and
                                                                             fast shipping.

Due to the increased labor required, eCommerce fulfillment operations typically do not sort
and bag small parcels prior to carrier handoff. This results in human operators handling each
individual item to then place on trucks, which requires a lot of labor and can lead to late
deliveries, damaged goods, or lost packages.

Companies of all sizes can take advantage of the automation technology that major parcel
and package carriers like FedEx Ground use within their own networks. With robotic product
sortation systems, all eCommerce fulfillment operations can leverage cost-effective, efficient,
and automated sorting for packaged customer orders — without incurring excessive shipping
costs or adding more headcount to an already limited workforce.

“   We are encouraged by the initial package handling and processing accuracy of Berkshire
    Grey’s RPSi system in our Queens facility. As an industry leader in technology and
    automation, we see the significant benefits that next generation innovation brings in terms
    of enabling increased safety and productivity, enhancing customer service and improving

                                                                   ”
    flexibility to adjust to changing package volumes and sizes.

    — Ted Dengel, Managing Director of Operations Technology and Innovation, FedEx Ground

1
         Robotic package sortation saves labor in the truck
         loading process and requires significantly less labor
         than other sortation methods.

Currently, most fulfillment operations               This enables eCommerce fulfillment
randomly floor load packages into trailers           operations to:
regardless of destination. By leveraging             •   Robotically sort large volumes of
robotic automation to pre-sort packages by               eCommerce packages with minimal labor,
destination location, companies can create               reducing costs at the fulfillment center.
bags or boxes containing many packages
that are tagged to be sent to specific nodes
                                                     •   Eliminate operators having to touch each
                                                         package for shipment processing, reducing
in their carriers’ networks.
                                                         sortation labor.
                                                     •   Speed up truck loading by reducing the
                                                         number of single items loaded into each trailer.

Robotic Parcel Sortation
                                                            With Identification (BG RPSi)
                                                            Automated robotic sortation systems
                                                            that pick, identify, and sort products
                                                            and packages from clutter into
                                                            collection bags and containers.

2         Shipping costs are reduced by sorting small packages to
          collection bags, making it easier for carriers to process.

Parcel and package carriers will pass on          Identifying parcels going to similar
the savings to their customers if customers       destinations and loading trucks with bagged
provide bags of pre-sorted goods bound            and tagged collections of small packages
for the same destination rather than many         enables eCommerce companies to:
loose packages traveling to various disparate     •   Take advantage of zone-skipping, which
locations. Sorted packages can be more                means the same package is not sorted again
easily processed by carriers, which can mean          at another node before reaching its destination.
lower prices for carriers and quicker transport
through carrier networks.
                                                  •   Improve delivery success with fewer single
                                                      packages placed in trucks, which reduces
This practice is commonly referred to as              the chances of late or lost packages.
“zone skipping” because the carriers can          •   Reduce the likelihood of small, individual
pass the bags through their networks without          packages being damaged in transit
having to incur the time and cost of sorting          because there are fewer touches
them at nodes within their networks.                  between the fulfillment operation
                                                      and the customer location.

3           Robotic package sortation accelerates package delivery
            and achieves higher customer satisfaction.

Sorting and containerizing eCommerce                 Customer satisfaction and then brand
packages is not something that consumers             loyalty are driven by robotic package
will ever see or know about — nor should they.       sortation because:
For many businesses, not only does robotic           •   Customer packages in pre-sorted bags
automation help speed up delivery times,                 get through carrier networks and closer
but pre-sorting packages can also improve                to customers faster.
customer satisfaction and loyalty.
                                                     •   Fewer processing steps at multiple nodes
Retailers and 3PLs can improve customer                  and less time within carrier networks
service by accelerating package delivery,                shorten overall delivery times.
lessening the chances of packages getting lost       •   Getting items as close to the final delivery
in transit, and reducing the chances of packages         location as quickly as possible boosts
being damaged as they are knocked around in              delivery speed.
the back of a trailer. And that ultimately means
consumers get their goods faster.

Berkshire Grey’s Intelligent Enterprise Robotics accelerate eCommerce
fulfillment operations and lower shipping costs.
Retailers, 3PLs, and eCommerce companies can use less labor, spend less money, and take less
time shipping products to customers with the help of robotic package sortation. Berkshire Grey’s
AI-enabled robotic sortation solutions can help companies manage the massive growth in small
parcels in customer orders, enable businesses to pre-sort packages, reduce costs, and speed up
customer deliveries. Berkshire Grey solutions can decrease the overall operational costs associated
with sorting parcels and packages because they are:
•   Modular enough to scale as demand shifts.
•   Compatible with manual and other automated processes to offset labor costs.
•   Flexible to fit into any available space.
•   Deployable in existing and new fulfillment environments.
•   Available via both CapEx and RaaS investment models.

To learn more, explore robotic automation at berkshiregrey.com.